


its awkward and its not okay

by hyckie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Awkward Crush, Awkward Mark Lee (NCT), Awkwardness, M/M, No Angst, Strangers to Lovers, extroverted hyuck, how does one do tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28154508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyckie/pseuds/hyckie
Summary: They were having a nice time until Jungwoo pointed out a boy staring at him. Like any normal person, he attempted to ignore the fact that a strangely attractive boy has his eyes glued to him from across the room, but after a while it was getting a bit creepy.or introverted mark's chaotic life is met with another chaotic person: lee donghyuck
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 3
Kudos: 65





	its awkward and its not okay

~ 🐯~

Marks has always been introverted. His friends would always complain about being lonely or getting bored when alone, but for some reason he just felt the opposite. Of course, he didn’t admit it as he might seem like some loser which doesn’t do anything (which technically isn’t wrong in the boys eyes even though he does do a lot of things after school) but he does really enjoy his time alone. 

With his family and friends all being so naturally loud, he figured that his alone time was his and it would give him time to recover from the variety of headaches he gets from being around such chaotic people. 

He honestly doesn’t know how everyone around him can be so wild. Is he some kind of loud people magnet? Besides that, the amount of noise he gets from one person in particular is where he gets the majority of his headaches: his friend Lucas. 

It's strange: the way Mark admires Lucas. He admires the way he can talk so easily to people and make new friends in the blink of an eye, the way he’s so effortlessly funny all the time and seems to be so carefree. _Why is he still friends with me?_ he could literally befriend anyone on the entire planet yet he decides to hang out with Mark, the socially awkward kid who likes studying and overthinking things. 

Lucas and Mark knew each other since they were born, their parents are close friends so they’ve kind of been stuck together. If it weren’t for that, Mark knows that he would’ve never spoken to Lucas, if it weren’t for Mark, he would definitely be with all the popular kids sitting in the back of the class, not sitting by the classroom window eating the sad crumbs of Mark's crisp packet like he is now. But, nevertheless, it's not like the younger boy can complain and he's just grateful he has such a good friend.

“What are you about thinking now?” Mark’s head shot back in front of him, away from the window he was staring at. Mark shook his head out of his thoughts and muffled “I don’t even know anymore.”

“Some sort of self-deprecating shit I guess. You need to cheer up buddy,” the elder nudged him with his elbow, “Stop being so hard on yourself,” Mark sighed as he looked down at his watch.

“Didn’t you say you had to meet someone at lunch? Time’s ticking and I don’t see those legs moving,” Mark laughed to himself at his sudden poetic talent as Lucas’ eyes widen “Dude! Why didn’t you tell me earlier, I have to go. I better see you waiting outside my class next period or I’m walking home without you,” and with that, he dashed for the door and out into the busy school corridors. 

Now that he’s finally alone, it was finally time to get something done. Recently, Mark found a new hobby: people watching. It sounds stalkerish and really weird, I know, but hear me out. For some ungodly reason, Mark’s always enjoyed admiring other people and how they interact. Maybe it could be because of his lack of skill in that area, but he found out a month ago that seeing the way people talk and the way they’re able to bounce off each other in conversation is fascinating. Mark envys that.

One person in particular Mark finds especially fascinating is a boy named Lee Donghyuck - who has now opened his classroom door and is beginning to talk to a blonde haired boy. Donghyuck is a year below Mark so the boy is a bit of a mystery. But Mark just loves to look at him. The way he can laugh so easily or crack jokes out of midair; the way he’s so witty yet affectionate with everyone he knows. That's the thing that Mark loves the most, his affection. Mark has always wanted a friend he could hug all the time without being afraid of how they’ll react.

Mark wants affection. But isn’t that a human need? Somehow, Mark's brain still manages to deprive him of yet another thing he wants. Whenever he thinks about being affectionate to a friend or unleashing his hidden huggable side of himself, he thinks of a billion excuses. One being that ‘I’m too far gone into my emo phase so if I change I’d be bombarded with questions’, or that ‘It’ll be too awkward’ and finally, ‘What if they don’t like it? I’m not good enough with talking to recover from that.’. Therefore, Mark makes the decision to not be affectionate.

Back to the subject at hand, Mark wants to be closer to Donghyuck. But Donghyuck just seems so out of reach. He always manages to have friends all around him and he seems perfect, he's good looking, sociable and he's talented. Mark’s only aware of the last one from when Donghyuck sang at a school assembly. His voice was like honey and Mark could only dream of hearing it again. 

Without consciously being aware of it, Mark has now been staring at Donghyuck from across the classroom for about 5 minutes straight.

~ **☀️** ~

Donghyuck decided to visit his friend Jungwoo in his classroom for lunch. They were having a nice time until Jungwoo pointed out a boy staring at him. Like any normal person, he attempted to ignore the fact that a strangely attractive boy has his eyes glued to him from across the room, but after a while it was getting a bit creepy. So, without thinking twice, Donghyuck power walked across the room, strategically weaving through the desks to not ruin his thunder. 

“Hello, excuse me for asking but you’ve been staring at me for a while? What's up with that?” Donghyuck asked.

The boy with black hair blinked strongly as he shook his head. What a strange person. “Oh, I-” the boy suddenly stopped talking and smacked himself across the mouth. He then scratched his head as he tried to pronounce what Hyuck thought to be a normal sentence, 

“I’m sorry, for.. Staring at you? It’s a habit.” Donghyuck smirked as he was about to comment that this boy literally just admitted he liked looking at him until he was interrupted, “No! Not.. you? Just- I.. Staring at people? That sounds wrong. Haha,” his laughter is so goddamn awkward. How the fuck is Donghyuck meant to react? He was absolutely speechless because of this boy and being speechless is quite the rarity for Donghyuck 

“I just... Ugh..” the black haired boy put his head in his hands as he shut his eyes. He's been avoiding Donghyuck’s eyes ever since he first came over and now his ears are beginning to bleed. 

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it, I think I understand,” Donghyuck laughed, he actually has no idea what the hell is going on and doesn’t understand in the slightest. But the boy was cute so he didn't mind telling a little white lie. The boy still had his head in his hands so Donghyuck took this as a sign to carry on.

“Sometime’s people just can’t take their eyes off of me, so I understand. My looks can be hard to ignore,” the boy still didn’t budge. Why is he so hard to talk to? Is he playing hard to get with me now? Is this a challenge? Donghyuck’s eyes lit up with the thought of a challenge. “I don’t think I’ve met you before. My name’s Donghyuck. What’s yours?” He put his hands on the desk in front of him and leaned closer to the boy. After what felt years, the mystery man finally spoke.

“Mark..” he muttered. He moved his head up and took a deep breath to compose himself. “My name is Mark. It’s… nice to meet you Donghyuck.”

~ 🐯~

_What the FUCK is wrong with me? Why did I say that? Ugh why can’t i just be normal? Honestly this is so stupid. ‘Staring at you, its a habit’ the fuck is wrong with me. It sounds like some sort of cringy pick up line?? I must’ve been a serial killer in my past life in order for god to degrade me this much. If I was a sim I would no doubt have -100 charisma._

Mark was screaming mentally in his next period. And Mrs Lee’s class was not helping. He was in science and they’ve been told to revise for a test they have next lesson. Meaning they were left to their own devices and Mark couldn’t distract himself with his studies like what he had wished for. 

When the bell finally rang, Mark looked down at his empty book with only the date sadly written in the corner. Looks like he has to study at home. He began to pack away his stuff and make his way to Lucas’ class to wait for him. 

“Mark! You finally decided to show up,” Lucas clicked his tongue. 

“Not like I had a choice after being blackmailed by you,” Mark hissed.

“Hey hey hey little guy. What’s got your panties in a twist?” Mark glared at Lucas, you could almost see the lasers shooting out of his eyes. “Can you stop being so annoying?” Mark groaned. The two were now walking towards Lucas’ locker.

“Rude?” Lucas put a hand to chest as he melancholically turned over to Mark “But seriously dude, why are you all pissy today?”

“I am not pissy. I just spoke to someone and I messed up and now they probably think I’m an idiot,”

“I’m pretty sure everyone already thinks your an idiot.”

“Not helping.”

“Who did you even talk to anyway?”

“Donghyuck.” Mark replied, he was so done with Lucas’ shenanigans and his voice definitely showed it. “Isn’t that your crush? You spoke about him the other day”

“He is NOT my crush!” Mark shouted as he pulled Lucas to the side of the hallway. They’ve now reached his locker and the taller boy is beginning to fish his pockets for a key.

And then Mark came to a pause. It then dawned on him that he said that way too loudly. The worst thing being is that the current boy in question is currently walking over to him. His eyes widened as he turned to face Lucas, as if he didn’t just make eye contact with Donghyuck.

“Geez calm down! You seem suspiciously defensive but you do you I guess,” Lucas looked over at Mark to realise he was now breaking into a sweat and was very close to the boy. “Hey, you alright?” 

“He’s coming”

“Are you possessed or something dude? What the hell is wrong with you toda-” as Lucas swerved his head along the corridor, he saw a tanned boy now standing next to Mark.

“Hey Markie,” Donghyuck says

“Hi Donghyuck..” Mark replies shakily, he looks down at his shoes, “Wait- Markie?” his head shot up to stare at Hyuck.

“Yes. Markie. It’s a nickname I thought of for you. What do you think? I can always call you Makgeolli if you don't like it.” Hyucks lips moved to a mischievous pout.

“Doesn’t Markie sound like I’m a dog,”

“I mean, I didn’t think of that but now it fits you perfectly,” Mark's eyebrows creased together, “You kind of look like a dog so now you’re officially Markie,” Hyuck winked at the boy and walked away.

Lucas slammed his locker door shut. “What the hell just happened? Nobody told me you were already that close with your crush!”

“We’re not close. We just met at lunch” 

Lucas nodded sarcastically as they both walked towards the school exit.

~~~

After that day, Donghyuck managed to embarrass Mark for three days straight, whether it be winking at him in the corridors to blowing him a kiss to pushing him against a wall kdrama style just to see Mark blush. 

_It's not a crush_ Mark thinks to himself. He’s just being way too seductive and anyone would feel this way if they were being treated like this - right? Mark can’t afford to have a crush, not with finals around the corner, especially when his mum has always been wanting Mark to go out with someone. Knowing her, she’d give Mark no space to actually study. He can always just not tell her, but that would feel like a betrayal to-

 _Why am I even thinking about this?_ Mark hits his head with the back of his wrist and speeds up his walk to the school. Lucas wasn’t walking with him due to going to school early for his javelin competition he was preparing for. 

“Hey pretty boy,” Donghyuck latched onto his arm as Mark walked through the school gates. Immediately he could feel his heart rate increase. “Were you waiting for me Donghyuck?” Mark asks, it sounds rather breathy due to him forgetting to breath prior. 

“Of course!” Donghyuck rested his chin on Mark's shoulder, making the older blush. “Renjun’s making out with his boyfriends and I don’t want to be a witness to that,” his lips grew into pout, making Mark unknowingly stare. “Why don’t you give me a nickname?” 

Donghyuck looked up at Mark. Mark looked away to try and avoid eye contact, knowing that if they did he would probably combust because of how cute this boy looks. “A nickname?”

“Yes, a nickname dummy.” Donghyuck rolled his eyes,

“Umm.. I don’t know” Marks mind went blank. _A nickname? There are too many to choose from…_

“Maybe Donghyuckie?”

“Cute but too long” he sighed,

“What about Hyuckie then”, Donghyucks eyes brightened as pushed Mark back to stop walking, “What is it now?” 

Mark's question evaporated into the air as Hyuck pressed his lips against Mark's cheek, his plump lips turning into a smile against his skin, “It’s great” the younger boy walked away leaving Mark standing outside his classroom with no thoughts, head empty. 

He tried to form a sentence in his head but was left with nothing as he slowly made his way to class.

Class flew by, Mark couldn’t pay attention to anything. His mind kept going back to how soft Hyucks lips felt pressed against his cheek. He wondered how Hyucks lips would feel on his own. As the bell rang, pulling him away from his thoughts, his face went bright red at the realisation of what he was thinking. 

But when walking around to find Lucas, he couldn’t help but let his thoughts wonder once again.

_Do I have a crush on Hyuck? Pfft, no way. He’s annoying and a brat. So I mustn’t have a crush on someone like that… unless? NO. Mark. You are a high achieving student which will not allow a silly crush to get in your way of your studies. Yes. Even if it was a crush, you could get over it or ignore it. But, of course, it is definitely not a crush. Definitely not a crush. Yep. Crush? We don’t know him. Crush who? I don’t know a crush? Jesus christ Mark. Your so stupid. Just shut the fuck up._

The boy looks around for a distraction as an attempt to pull him out of his self destructive hole of thoughts. 

A distraction does arrive, but not the distraction he hoped for. 

“Hey Markie-pie, where you heading to?” A voice shot from behind him. It gave him goosebumps as he recognised the oh-so-recognisable honey tone. Mark almost broke his neck from how fast he turned around. 

“What do you want,” Mark gave himself a mental pat on the back from how he actually managed to get his voice out half-decently. 

“Do I need an excuse to talk to you?” Hyuck smirked as he playfully winked at Mark. 

“I-” _Fuck. Why’d he have to wink? That's against the rules. Mark. You are a strong independent woman(?). you can overcome this._

“Ha, I guess not.” _Nailed it._

“Soo.. I was wondering if you wanna hang out later?” 

“I...um. I think so?” It was only then, Mark looked around to notice Lucas very close next to him. With a hand cupped to his ear to try and listen into the conversation. As Mark finishes speaking, he notices Lucas put an offended hand to his chest as his mouth falls open.

Mark glares at him as he knees Lucas to the side. Lucas makes a weird grunt as he huffs and takes a step back.

Hyuck giggles, “So is that a yes then?”

Mark feels his heart rate increasing as he tries to speak, “I would love to hang out with you later, yes.”

Hyuck’s sudden laugh echoes through the corridors, making Mark's ears nearly bleed. Hyuck bangs his knees as he tries to catch his breath.

“What’s so funny?” Mark asks offendedly, genuinely worried if he said something wrong.

Hyuck smiled, his eyes gleaming as he wiped the tears from his eye, “You’re so cute Mark.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! for this fic i based marks character from ~me~ because im socially awkward as fuck and wanted to write about it so here we are. if you enjoyed please leave a comment as id love to see what you thought <3
> 
> please talk to me im nice  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/hycklo)  
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/tailtae)


End file.
